BackgroundThe impact of dispatcher‐assisted bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on neurological outcomes in children is unclear. We investigated whether dispatcher‐assisted bystander CPR shows favorable neurological outcomes (Cerebral Performance Category scale 1 or 2) in children with out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA).Methods and ResultsChildren (n=5009, age<18 years) with OHCA were selected from a nationwide Utstein‐style Japanese database (2008–2010) and divided into 3 groups: no bystander CPR (n=2287); bystander CPR with dispatcher instruction (n=2019); and bystander CPR without dispatcher instruction (n=703) groups. The primary endpoint was favorable neurological outcome at 1 month post‐OHCA. Dispatcher CPR instruction was offered to 53.9% of patients, significantly increasing bystander CPR provision rate (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 7.51; 95% confidence interval [CI], 6.60 to 8.57). Bystander CPR with and without dispatcher instruction were significantly associated with improved 1‐month favorable neurological outcomes (aOR, 1.81 and 1.68; 95% CI, 1.24 to 2.67 and 1.07 to 2.62, respectively), compared to no bystander CPR. Conventional CPR was associated with increased odds of 1‐month favorable neurological outcomes irrespective of etiology of cardiac arrest (aOR, 2.30; 95% CI, 1.56 to 3.41). However, chest‐compression‐only CPR was not associated with 1‐month meaningful outcomes (aOR, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.67 to 1.64).ConclusionsIn children with OHCA, dispatcher‐assisted bystander CPR increased bystander CPR provision rate and was associated with improved 1‐month favorable neurological outcomes, compared to no bystander CPR. Conventional bystander CPR was associated with greater likelihood of neurologically intact survival, compared to chest‐compression‐only CPR, irrespective of cardiac arrest etiology.

Background--The determination of appropriate duration of in-the-field cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients is one of the biggest challenges for emergency medical service providers and clinicians. The appropriate CPR duration before termination of resuscitation remains unclear and may differ based on initial rhythm. We aimed to determine the relationship between CPR duration and post-OHCA outcomes.

IntroductionFew clinical trials have provided evidence that epinephrine administration after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) improves long-term survival. Here we determined whether prehospital epinephrine administration would improve 1-month survival in OHCA patients.MethodsWe analyzed the data of 209,577 OHCA patients; the data were prospectively collected in a nationwide Utstein-style Japanese database between 2009 and 2010. Patients were divided into the initial shockable rhythm (n = 15,492) and initial non-shockable rhythm (n = 194,085) cohorts. The endpoints were prehospital return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), 1-month survival, and 1-month favorable neurological outcomes (cerebral performance category scale, category 1 or 2) after OHCA. We defined epinephrine administration time as the time from the start of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) by emergency medical services personnel to the first epinephrine administration.ResultsIn the initial shockable rhythm cohort, the ratios of prehospital ROSC, 1-month survival, and 1-month favorable neurological outcomes in the non-epinephrine group were significantly higher than those in the epinephrine group (27.7% vs. 22.8%, 27.0% vs. 15.4%, and 18.6% vs. 7.0%, respectively; all P < 0.001). However, in the initial non-shockable rhythm cohort, the ratios of prehospital ROSC and 1-month survival in the epinephrine group were significantly higher than those in the non-epinephrine group (18.7% vs. 3.0% and 3.9% vs. 2.2%, respectively; all P < 0.001) and there was no significant difference between the epinephrine and non-epinephrine groups for 1-month favorable neurological outcomes (P = 0.62). Prehospital epinephrine administration for OHCA patients with initial non-shockable rhythms was independently associated with prehospital ROSC (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 8.83, 6.18, 4.32; 95% confidence interval [CI], 8.01-9.73, 5.82-6.56, 3.98-4.69; for epinephrine administration times ≤9 min, 10-19 min, and ≥20 min, respectively), with improved 1-month survival when epinephrine administration time was <20 min (aOR, 1.78, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.50-2.10, 1.17-1.43; for epinephrine administration times ≤9 min and 10-19 min, respectively), and with deteriorated 1-month favorable neurological outcomes (aOR, 0.63, 0.49; 95% CI, 0.48-0.80, 0.32-0.71; for epinephrine administration times 10-19 min and ≥20 min, respectively).ConclusionsPrehospital epinephrine administration for OHCA patients with initial nonshockable rhythms was independently associated with achievement of prehospital ROSC and had association with improved 1-month survival when epinephrine administration time was <20 min.

IntroductionThe 2010 cardiopulmonary resuscitation guidelines recommend emergency medical services (EMS) personnel consider prehospital termination-of-resuscitation (TOR) rules for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) following basic life support and/or advanced life support efforts in the field. However, the rate of implementation of international TOR rules is still low. Here, we aimed to develop and validate a new TOR rule for emergency department physicians to replace the international TOR rules for EMS personnel in the field. This rule aims to guide physicians in deciding whether to withhold further resuscitation attempts or terminate on-going resuscitation immediately after patient arrival.MethodsWe analyzed data prospectively collected in a nationwide Utstein-style Japanese database between 2005 and 2009, from 495,607 adult patients with OHCA. Patients were divided into development (n = 390,577) and validation (n = 105,030) groups. The main outcome measures were specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for the newly developed TOR rule.ResultsWe developed a new TOR rule that includes 3 criteria based on the results of multivariate logistic regression analysis for predicting a 1-month death after OHCA: no prehospital return of spontaneous circulation (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 25.8; 95% confidence interval [CI], 24.7–26.9), unshockable initial rhythm (adjusted OR, 2.76; 95% CI, 2.54–3.01), and unwitnessed by bystanders (adjusted OR, 2.18; 95% CI, 2.09–2.28). The specificity, PPV, and area under the ROC curve for this new TOR rule for predicting 1-month death in the validation group were 0.903 (95% CI, 0.894–0.911), 0.993 (95% CI, 0.992–0.993), and 0.874 (95% CI, 0.872–0.876), respectively.ConclusionsWe developed and validated a new TOR rule for emergency department physicians consisting of 3 prehospital variables (no prehospital ROSC, unshockable initial rhythm, and unwitnessed by bystanders) that is a >99% predictor of very poor outcome. However, the implementation of this new rule in other countries or EMS systems requires further validation studies.

IntroductionEstimation of outcomes in patients after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) soon after arrival at the hospital may help clinicians guide in-hospital strategies, particularly in the emergency department. This study aimed to develop a simple and generally applicable bedside model for predicting outcomes after cardiac arrest.MethodsWe analyzed data for 390,226 adult patients who had undergone OHCA, from a prospectively recorded nationwide Utstein-style Japanese database for 2005 through 2009. The primary end point was survival with favorable neurologic outcome (cerebral performance category (CPC) scale, categories 1 to 2 [CPC 1 to 2]) at 1 month. The secondary end point was survival at 1 month. We developed a decision-tree prediction model by using data from a 4-year period (2005 through 2008, n = 307,896), with validation by using external data from 2009 (n = 82,330).ResultsRecursive partitioning analysis of the development cohort for 10 predictors indicated that the best single predictor for survival and CPC 1 to 2 was shockable initial rhythm. The next predictors for patients with shockable initial rhythm were age (<70 years) followed by witnessed arrest and age (>70 years) followed by arrest witnessed by emergency medical services (EMS) personnel. For patients with unshockable initial rhythm, the next best predictor was witnessed arrest. A simple decision-tree prediction mode permitted stratification into four prediction groups: good, moderately good, poor, and absolutely poor. This model identified patient groups with a range from 1.2% to 30.2% for survival and from 0.3% to 23.2% for CPC 1 to 2 probabilities. Similar results were observed when this model was applied to the validation cohort.ConclusionsOn the basis of a decision-tree prediction model using four prehospital variables (shockable initial rhythm, age, witnessed arrest, and witnessed by EMS personnel), OHCA patients can be readily stratified into the four groups (good, moderately good, poor, and absolutely poor) that help predict both survival at 1 month and survival with favorable neurologic outcome at 1 month. This simple prediction model may provide clinicians with a practical bedside tool for the OHCA patient's stratification in the emergency department.

URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT02432196.

Background It remains unclear whether men have more favorable survival outcomes after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) than women. Methods We reviewed a total of 386,535 patients aged ≥ 18 years with OHCA who were included in the Japanese registry from 2013 to 2016. The study endpoints were the rates of 1-month survival and neurologically intact survival (Cerebral Performance Category Scale score = 1 or 2). Based on age, the reviewed patients were categorized into the following eight groups: < 30, 30–39, 40–49, 50–59, 60–69, 70–79, 80–89, and ≥ 90 years. The survival outcomes in men and women were compared using hierarchical propensity score matching. Results The crude survival rate was significantly higher in men than in women in five groups: 30–39, 40–49, 50–59, 60–69, and 70–79 years (all P < 0.001). Similarly, the crude neurologically intact survival rate was significantly higher in men than in women in seven groups: < 30, 30–39, 40–49, 50–59, 60–69, 70–79, and 80–89 years (all P < 0.005). However, multivariate logistic regression analysis of each group revealed no significant sex-specific differences in 1-month survival outcomes (all P > 0.02). Moreover, after hierarchical propensity score matching, the survival outcomes did not significantly differ between both sexes (all P > 0.05). Conclusions No significant sex-specific differences were found in the rates of 1-month survival and neurologically intact survival after OHCA. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13054-019-2547-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

BackgroundThe response time of emergency medical services (EMS) is an important determinant of survival after out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest. We sought to identify upper limits of EMS response times and bystander interventions associated with neurologically intact survival.Methods and ResultsWe analyzed the records of 553 426 patients with out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest in a Japanese registry between 2010 and 2014. The primary study end point was 1‐month neurologically intact survival (Cerebral Performance Category scale 1 or 2). Increased EMS response time was associated with significantly decreased adjusted odds of 1‐month neurologically intact survival (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] for each 1‐minute increase, 0.89; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.89–0.90), although this relationship was modified by bystander interventions. The bystander interventions and the ranges of EMS response times that were associated with increased adjusted 1‐month neurologically intact survival were as follows: bystander defibrillation, from ≤2 minutes (aOR, 3.10 [95% CI, 1.25–7.31]) to 13 minutes (aOR, 5.55 [95% CI, 2.66–11.2]); bystander conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation, from 3 minutes (aOR 1.48 [95% CI, 1.02–2.12]) to 11 minutes (aOR 2.41 [95% CI, 1.61–3.56]); and bystander chest‐compression‐only cardiopulmonary resuscitation, from ≤2 minutes (aOR 1.57 [95% CI, 1.01–2.25]) to 11 minutes (aOR 1.92 [95% CI, 1.45–2.56]). However, the increase in neurologically intact survival of those receiving bystander interventions became statistically insignificant compared with no bystander interventions when the EMS response time was outside these ranges.ConclusionsThe upper limits of the EMS response times associated with improved 1‐month neurologically intact survival were 13 minutes when bystanders provided defibrillation (typically with cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and 11 minutes when bystanders provided cardiopulmonary resuscitation without defibrillation.